{"id":"https://openalex.org/W3185869091","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ecrime51433.2020.9493261","title":"WordyThief: A Malicious Spammer","display_name":"WordyThief: A Malicious Spammer","publication_year":2020,"publication_date":"2020-11-16","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W3185869091","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ecrime51433.2020.9493261","mag":"3185869091"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/ecrime51433.2020.9493261","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ecrime51433.2020.9493261","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"2020 APWG Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (eCrime)","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5075933002","display_name":"Ren\u00e9e Burton","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4802-7419"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Renee Burton","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Sykesville, MD, USA"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Sykesville, MD, USA","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5020212339","display_name":"Vadym Tymchenko","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Vadym Tymchenko","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5062864436","display_name":"Nicholas Sundvall","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Nicholas Sundvall","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5017076828","display_name":"Minh Hoang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Minh Hoang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5002983734","display_name":"Jim Mozley","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jim Mozley","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, London, England"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, London, England","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5040457218","display_name":"Michael Josten","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Michael Josten","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Intelligence Infoblox, Tacoma, Washington, USA","institution_ids":[]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5075933002"],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":1,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.40584708,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":91,"max":95},"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"1","last_page":"11"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11644","display_name":"Spam and Phishing Detection","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11644","display_name":"Spam and Phishing Detection","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11241","display_name":"Advanced Malware Detection Techniques","score":0.996999979019165,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1711","display_name":"Signal Processing"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12519","display_name":"Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies","score":0.9965000152587891,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/spamming","display_name":"Spamming","score":0.9246087074279785},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/malware","display_name":"Malware","score":0.8050197958946228},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.7759619951248169},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/exploit","display_name":"Exploit","score":0.6831821203231812},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-security","display_name":"Computer security","score":0.5012984275817871},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/domain","display_name":"Domain (mathematical analysis)","score":0.4999995231628418},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cryptovirology","display_name":"Cryptovirology","score":0.4919893443584442},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/identification","display_name":"Identification (biology)","score":0.49065887928009033},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/domain-name","display_name":"Domain name","score":0.46822306513786316},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/metadata","display_name":"Metadata","score":0.45290878415107727},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/spambot","display_name":"Spambot","score":0.44374731183052063},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/world-wide-web","display_name":"World Wide Web","score":0.3651743233203888},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/data-science","display_name":"Data science","score":0.32814687490463257},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/the-internet","display_name":"The Internet","score":0.18820852041244507}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C158955206","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83058","display_name":"Spamming","level":3,"score":0.9246087074279785},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C541664917","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14001","display_name":"Malware","level":2,"score":0.8050197958946228},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7759619951248169},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C165696696","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11287","display_name":"Exploit","level":2,"score":0.6831821203231812},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.5012984275817871},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C36503486","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11235244","display_name":"Domain (mathematical analysis)","level":2,"score":0.4999995231628418},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C84525096","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3506050","display_name":"Cryptovirology","level":3,"score":0.4919893443584442},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C116834253","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2039217","display_name":"Identification (biology)","level":2,"score":0.49065887928009033},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2988987868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q32635","display_name":"Domain name","level":3,"score":0.46822306513786316},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C93518851","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180160","display_name":"Metadata","level":2,"score":0.45290878415107727},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127735637","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2306702","display_name":"Spambot","level":4,"score":0.44374731183052063},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.3651743233203888},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.32814687490463257},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C110875604","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q75","display_name":"The Internet","level":2,"score":0.18820852041244507},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C59822182","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q441","display_name":"Botany","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C33923547","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q395","display_name":"Mathematics","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C134306372","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7754","display_name":"Mathematical analysis","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C86803240","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q420","display_name":"Biology","level":0,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/ecrime51433.2020.9493261","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ecrime51433.2020.9493261","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"2020 APWG Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (eCrime)","raw_type":"proceedings-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[{"score":0.6200000047683716,"display_name":"Industry, innovation and infrastructure","id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/9"}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":10,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W168564468","https://openalex.org/W2095720311","https://openalex.org/W2122182122","https://openalex.org/W2167384224","https://openalex.org/W2890928763","https://openalex.org/W2926136271","https://openalex.org/W2963145442","https://openalex.org/W3123655755","https://openalex.org/W4212881072","https://openalex.org/W6761475628"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2018000323","https://openalex.org/W4256304280","https://openalex.org/W2403960249","https://openalex.org/W4249009605","https://openalex.org/W2095720311","https://openalex.org/W2006090454","https://openalex.org/W2030018935","https://openalex.org/W2900526031","https://openalex.org/W384368127","https://openalex.org/W2229063547"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"We":[0,85,172,184,195,244],"detail":[1],"the":[2,16,24,28,35,39,45,55,106,112,133,140,162,166,220,226,249],"tradecraft":[3],"used":[4,223],"to":[5,44,54,79,159,191,224,252],"discover":[6],"and":[7,34,70,101,127,136,148,176,204,210,232,241,276],"exploit":[8],"a":[9,61,72,123,169,200,257],"prolific":[10],"Russian-affiliated":[11],"malicious":[12,48],"spam":[13,49,146,202],"actor.":[14,141,171],"To":[15],"best":[17],"of":[18,27,41,47,75,108,139,145,168,234,237,248,254,260,264,272,279],"our":[19,178,193],"knowledge,":[20],"this":[21],"paper":[22,216],"is":[23],"first":[25,36],"description":[26],"actor,":[29,227],"whom":[30],"we":[31,131],"call":[32],"WordyThief,":[33,76],"publication":[37],"demonstrating":[38],"application":[40],"graph":[42],"techniques":[43],"identification":[46],"campaigns.":[50],"This":[51,215],"work":[52,167],"contributes":[53],"threat":[56],"intelligence":[57,189],"community":[58],"both":[59],"as":[60,71],"technique":[62,126],"that":[63,161,197,207],"can":[64],"be":[65],"utilized":[66],"in":[67,82,268],"daily":[68],"practice,":[69],"thorough":[73],"account":[74],"who":[77],"continues":[78],"spread":[80],"malware":[81,89,206],"October":[83],"2020.":[84],"initially":[86],"discovered":[87],"isolated":[88],"campaigns":[90,163],"using":[91],"large-scale":[92],"bipartite":[93],"graphs":[94,100],"created":[95],"from":[96,213],"email":[97],"metadata.":[98],"These":[99],"related":[102],"campaign":[103],"specifics":[104],"revealed":[105],"use":[107,253,263],"domain":[109,118],"names":[110],"within":[111],"spammer's":[113],"infrastructure":[114,203],"devised":[115],"through":[116,181],"dictionary":[117],"generation":[119],"algorithms":[120],"(DDGAs).":[121],"Using":[122],"second":[124],"graph-based":[125],"time":[128],"series":[129],"analysis,":[130],"recovered":[132],"underlying":[134],"dictionaries":[135],"temporal":[137],"behavior":[138],"A":[142],"retrospective":[143],"review":[144],"collection":[147],"correlation":[149],"with":[150],"other":[151],"Domain":[152],"Name":[153],"System":[154],"(DNS)":[155],"information":[156,212],"led":[157],"us":[158],"conclude":[160],"were":[164],"all":[165],"single":[170],"tracked":[173],"their":[174,238,261,269,280],"activity":[175],"substantiated":[177],"methods":[179,222],"retrospectively,":[180],"December":[182],"2019.":[183],"also":[185,229],"leveraged":[186],"open":[187,273],"source":[188,274],"(OSINT)":[190],"verify":[192],"findings.":[194],"found":[196],"WordyThief":[198],"operates":[199],"large":[201],"distributes":[205],"steals":[208],"personal":[209],"financial":[211],"victims.":[214],"includes":[217],"not":[218],"only":[219],"scientific":[221],"detect":[225],"but":[228],"detailed":[230],"descriptions":[231],"analyses":[233],"several":[235],"elements":[236],"tactics,":[239],"techniques,":[240],"procedures":[242],"(TTP).":[243],"include":[245],"an":[246,277],"analysis":[247,259],"actor's":[250],"tendency":[251],"aged":[255],"domains,":[256],"text":[258],"emails,":[262],"embedded":[265],"IP":[266],"tracking":[267],"campaigns,":[270],"harvesting":[271],"images,":[275],"exposition":[278],"evolving":[281],"exploitation":[282],"techniques.":[283]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-03-25T13:04:00.132906","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}